The Woes of a Thirteen Year Old Tolkien Fan
by Nimrodel626
Summary: Two Elves, a cat, a dog, and a family of seven do not mix. Especiely in upstate New York, 2013. A part of the Plush Toy Collaboration.
1. Footsteps of Doom

The Woes of a Thirteen Year Old Tolkien Fan

**Disclaimer: The idea behind the Plushie Stories belongs to Crackers (CrackinAndProudOfIt) and Duilin, the characters from the Silmarillion belong to Tolkien, and I made up the rest, except for the F. A. U. L. T. T. Y. idea, which I got from Crackers. Beta-read by Crackers.**

Chapter One, Footsteps of Doom

Zoe sat at her desk, hopelessly trying to translate _Christus est rex hominum sed est frater hominum, et Deus est rex hominum sed est pater hominum_* into English.

"Is it Christ is the king of…?" she muttered to herself. This exercise had to be done by Tuesday, and it was already Saturday evening. With no chance of being able to do any school work on Sunday, what with church and family, she now deeply regretted reading that piece of fan fiction this afternoon, when she should have been catching up on schoolwork. _Mommy and Daddy will not be pleased_, she thought to herself. (Yes, she still calls her parents Mommy and Daddy. No, she is not crazy. Or maybe just a tiny bit.)

There was a knock on the door downstairs. She paid no attention to it, though normally she raced her brother to see who could be the first to open the door. It puzzled her, though, because just as the knock resounded, she felt her spine tingle, and she heard in her head the voice of Galadriel saying "_As the footsteps of doom,_" which of course made no sense. Though Lord of the Rings generally took up her whole life, she hadn't thought about it for the past thirty minutes, a long stretch of time in Zoe's world. She shook her head at herself and turned back to her Latin.

"Where was I? Let's see, He is also the…"

"Zoe?" Her brother, Alex, poked his head into her room.

"Alexander Hebrew!" she exclaimed. "How many times have I told you to knock?" Little brothers can be a pain in the neck sometimes.

"Umm, about nine hundred?" He was grinning now. "Listen, Zoe, there is an extremely long package for you down stairs. It just arrived and it's addressed to Nimrodel626, your pen name on . Thought you might want to know."

"What!?" she cried. "I didn't order anything!" They were alone, their parents being at a meeting with their other brothers. She gave up on her Latin, at least for the moment, and ran down stairs.

They hurried into the living room, where Alex had dragged the behemoth-sized box. Well, it wasn't really as large as the creature described in Job, but it was long, wide, and flat. Zoe stuck out her hand for something to cut it open with.

"I'll go get a knife from the kitchen," Alex volunteered. Seconds later he returned with the knife. Once again the words _"footsteps of doom" echoed through_ Zoe's mind. Before she slit the tape, she examined the package for a return address to find out who this could have possibly come from. There was nothing. The writing on the package only said Nimrodel626 7832Parkington place Watertown, NY 77098

Taking a deep breath, she slit the tape. Alex slowly lifted the flaps, and there, lying in the box, were two-

"Plush Toys?" they said together, mystified. Zoe slowly lifted them up. They were life-size toys of two elves, one a little taller than the other. They both had long, straight, dark hair. When I said that they were life-sized, I meant _life-sized_: around seven feet tall. The main clues as to their identities, though, the ones that helped Zoe pick out which elves they were, were the facts that the taller one had only a left hand, and the shorter one had a harp.

"Maedhros and Maglor," breathed Zoe.

"Who are they?" asked Alex.

"They're the ones I've told you about, you know, the sons of Feanor, who are always trying to get the Silmarils back. You remember what the Silmarils are, right?"

"Of course. They're the jewels Beren and Luthien tried to get back, aren't they?"

"Correct. Look around the Styrofoam nuggets and see if you can find anything that says why we have been sent Silmarillion plush toys, and why they were sent to my pen name."

After about three minutes of searching, {Alex} came across a sky-blue envelope.

"Hey! Look at this!" he shouted. "It says 'faulty' on it, but it's spelled out."

Zoe came over to look at the envelope. Sure enough, against the azure background were the letters F. A. U. L. T. T. Y.

"I wonder what that could mean," she murmured.

**End of my first chapter. How did you like it? Please review to let me know. (Nim is on her knees begging.) Pretty please with sugar on top!**

*This is Latin, translated to English it is: Christ is the King of men but He is also the brother of men, and God is the King of men, but He is also the Father of men. A rather rambling sentence, I know, but I did not make it up. It was the longest sentence that I can translate, that was in my Latin book, so that is what made it into my story.


	2. The Oath Makers

Who Will Call Them From the Grey Twilight, the Oath Makers?

**Quenya in italics. Zoë speaks Quenya, from being an all out Tolkien fan**

Zoe slowly slid the paper out of the envelope to read:

**Congratulations on your application to the F. A. U. L. T. T. Y. (Favorite Authors Using Living Toys to Thank You) program! As Professor Tolkien, I deem it my honor to inform you that the Elves you have received are Maedhros and Maglor. If these names are not familiar to you, I ask that you immediately call _-_-_. **

**These living toys will activate within an hour of your opening the box. On the next sheet are instructions for the care of your Elves. F. A. U. L. T. T. Y. is in no way responsible for the actions of your Elves. If you or they are damaged, it is entirely your problem. The Elves are non-returnable. They will be with you for the duration of the week, though if you wish to retain one or more for an extended period of time, just say 'I wish to keep you' to the Elf you wish to keep, and they may stay for one week more. An Elf is renewable two times.**

Zoe and Alex looked at each other.

"Uh-oh" they said simultaneously

Just then, the two figures lying stretched out beside them stirred. As Zoë and Alex looked on in horror, they perceived that the cloth and stuffing had turned to flesh. Maglor sat up and looked around.

"_Where in Middle-earth am I?"_ he asked.

While Alex looked at him like he had two heads, Zoë replied calmly, though with her heart inwardly racing,"_My Lord, you are not in Arda at all. You are in a completely different time and place. This is America. Can you speak the tongue of men?" _

"Yes," he replied, this time in English. "Though why I must is still a mystery."

"Must what?" demanded Alex.

"Must speak English," said Zoë. "Is something wrong with Maedhros? He stirred, but he hasn't gotten up."

"Maedhros is here, as well?" exclaimed Maglor. "Truly Mandos spoke aright when he said, 'Beyond Aman shall ye dwell in death's shadow.' I did not think that he meant beyond Arda when he said, 'On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East.' Is this some further punishment of the Valar, after all we have endured?"

"I know not," Zoë sighed. "All I know is that a mysterious box arrived on my doorstep with you two inside it. This brings us back to my earlier question. How is Maedhros doing?"

During this conversation, Alex had bent over Maedhros. "He's breathing," announced the ten year old, "though I think we should get him somewhere more comfortable, like the couch."

Together all three of them lifted Maedhros onto the long couch in the next room. For several minutes, they sat beside him, looking at each other and feeling very uncomfortable. After about five minutes, Maedhros stirred.

"_Who are you? Where am I?"_

"_Not in Arda, my lord," _replied Zoë.

_"We are in a different world," _Maglor interrupted. "_Apparently we arrived in a box as plush toys, and we are going to be here for a week, living in this world."_

_"WHAT!?" _Maedhros sounded shocked.

"_It is true,"_ sighed Zoë. "_Do you think you could use the tongue of men? _That is what we speak here, and the only tongue my brother understands."

"I can," said Maedhros slowly in English, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. "What are we going to do now?

The question hung in the air for several minutes. Then there was a flash of headlights on the wall, coming in through the thin lace curtain. Mommy and Daddy were home!

As Zoë and Alex sat like deer caught in the headlights (quite literally, I'm afraid, they heard the sound of the car turning off. They glanced at each other, then each of them grabbed the hand of an Elf. They raced upstairs **like rabbits.**

"Maedhros, Maglor, stay right here," panted Zoë, dashing into her room. "Alex, get into bed quick; you were supposed to be there half an hour ago!"

"But what about…?" started Alex.

"No time for it!"

"But..."

"No time for that, either! Hurry!"

Taking several deep breaths, Zoë composed herself. She was still breathing hard, though, as she walked down to meet her parents, and to help with Nathaniel, Robert, and David, her other brothers. If anyone noticed that she seemed out of sorts, they said nothing, nor did they comment on the boxes in the living room, which Zoë and Alex apparently had forgotten about. It was only after the twins and Nathaniel had been put down, that Daddy said anything.

"You've been flustered quite badly. What happened?"

"I umm, I err, there are two Elves upstairs in my bedroom. I'm not joking." As Daddy made to interrupt, Zoë plowed on. "Their names are Maedhros and Maglor. They are the sons of Fëanor from _The Silmarillion_. I am not crazy. Here, let me show you."

Leaving her parents blinking like owls at her, she ran to her room, taking the steps two at a time. She went into her room, calling softly as she did so.

"Maedhros, Maglor, come and meet my parents. Keep your voices down; my brothers are sleeping."

Mr. and Mrs. Hebrew's eyes popped out of their heads, and their jaws dropped halfway to the floor. Their daughter, Zoë, was coming down the stairs with two men, two very tall, very proud men, who could only be Elves.

"This is Maedhros," she said, indicating the one with only a left hand. "And this is Maglor. Maglor, Maedhros, these are my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hebrew."

"We are pleased to meet you," said Maedhros, speaking for both of them. "It is truly an honor to meet the parents of our host."

The look on Mr. and Mrs. Hebrew's faces was priceless. It was one of utter shock. Wordlessly Zoe handed them the first paper from F. A. U. L. T. T. Y.

**I want to say thank you once again to Crackers for beta'ing this for me, and to all of you who reviewed. Bearwolf207, Elrond's Scribe, Beocorgi, Elf from Downunder, fantasychica37, Galad Estel, and Haneshiro. Hannon Le! To everyone else, a review makes my day. I get excited every time I see one. To let you know, the next chapter may be long in coming, as I have to wait for a book to arrive to finish it.  
Estelio Eru,Nimrodel**


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